A distinguished stage actor, Rickman's film debut was as the evil Hans Gruber in Die Hard (1988). His next role, the dastardly Sheriff of Nottingham, confirmed his talent for playing the sexy, sardonic villain. But Rickman has avoided being typecast: he was the ghost husband in Truly, Madly, Deeply (1990), the chivalrous Colonel Brandon in Sense and Sensibility (1995) and Eamon De Valera in Michael Collins (1996), and he proved that he could send himself up in the sci-fi spoof Galaxy Quest (1999). Rickman has also directed Emma Thompson and her mother Phyllida Law in The Winter Guest (1997) and starred opposite Thompson in Judas Kiss (1998).

After attending the Chelsea School of Art he spent three years working as a graphic designer.